REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Vice President M Jusuf Kalla is scheduled to visit Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province, on Tuesday. Lombok was hit by another powerful earthquake on Sunday evening.
The vice president will review aid distribution and the rehabilitation process in the aftermath of the quake. Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono earlier has submitted reports on the rehabilitation process in NTB following a series of earthquakes that hit the province over the last one month.
"We were called by Mr. Vice President, who will visit Lombok tomorrow to witness the impact of the earthquakes, and to make sure that reconstruction and rehabilitation plans run well," the minister said at the presidential office, Jakarta, on Monday.
Teams of the public works and public housing ministry and the state enterprise ministry (BUMN) have been deployed to the province for the implementation of the reconstruction and rehabilitation processes. The minister said the state-owned companies have been told to immediately carry out the rehabilitation of damaged public facilities such as school buildings, hospitals, mosques and government offices. The budget will come from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and the public works and public housing ministry.
East Java Governor Soekarwo will be a part of Kalla's entourage because the province is expected to help supply construction materials such as cement, steel, and concrete to NTB.
Earlier, BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati explained it was not an aftershock, but a new main shock. The epicenter was at 8.28 south latitude and 116.71 east longitude.
"By observing the epicenter, we can see it formed a new epicenter cluster, with the distribution heading eastward up to the north of West Sumbawa. So, we conclude that the earthquake is a new activity, which is different form the 7-magnitude quake that jolted West Nusa Tenggara province on August 5," Dwikorita said in a press conference at her office on Sunday (Aug 19) night.
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